[baltodog]

Why should any parent believe that he or she is not responsible for their children's' behavior?
It's a parent's job to teach their children right from wrong, even in the face of peer pressure.
My wife's uncle is a judge, and he told me how he had to give these two punks PROBATION for damage to a new subdivision that was well within the hundreds of thousands of dollars. The parents weren't held liable for anything....it was just two kids doing a prank.

[cyborg]

Ounce of prevention is worth a pound of tax payer funded cures

[eeman]

Ideally, not only the parents should bear at least some financial liability, but the kid should be doing some time as well. I had an employee whose daughter was a delinquent and was shoplifting, and probably other acts as well. The mother was distraught, put her in counseling etc. No legal authority ever came down on this kid until she turned 18 and then she was thrown in jail and now has a permanent record. If someone had come down earlier on her when she was a juvenile, maybe she would have figured it out before she turned 18.